“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” [1]
Without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, Christianity is about as nourishing as pre-chewed sawdust. Actually, without Christ as Master over life, whatever is professed, there is no Christianity. Without Christ ruling over one’s life, there can be no sense of satisfaction, no fulfilment in life now, and no hope of a future with Him. The reason this is true is that the Faith centres around the Risen Son of God. Any possibility of pleasing God Who gives us our being rests in our relationship with Jesus the Son of God.
Years ago, it was noted that a surprising number of ministers resisted the movement known in American history as the Great Awakening. The resistance of these ministers proved to be a serious hindrance to the advance of the Faith in that distant age. God prevailed, but the resistance to the work of God clearly slowed the spread of revival fires. In the same way, resisting the work of God in this present age is a hindrance and a detriment to the advance of the Faith. However, I suggest that an even greater threat to the advance of God's kingdom is the danger of being unconverted while serving among the churches. Whether simply being a regular church attendee, or whether fulfilling some role in the ongoing work of the churches of our Lord, or whether serving as a minister of Christ in the diaconate or in the pastorate, those who are unconverted are a serious hindrance to the work of Christ the Lord.
The threat and the calamity that such an awful state of feigned faith poses, not just for the general populace but for the one who is seemingly called of God and perhaps is ready to embark on theological education, or for one even now in the midst of such training, is indeed horrible and awful. Therefore, the question must be asked, “Are you saved and are you sure?”
I am less concerned with offending someone who is present than that someone present might learn all of the fine points of service in the Name of Christ and yet miss the most important point. And that is that the Christian life is centred around knowing Jesus Christ personally and walking with him on a daily basis. My deep concern for the salvation of those who anticipate entering into the service of the churches or for those who are now serving among the churches is heightened by recent statistics indicating that less than half of the members of our churches attend services on Sunday morning. If even one half of our Christian population cared enough about the Holy Lamb of God to get out of bed and show up for church on Sunday morning, there would not be enough room in our churches to contain them. In fact, most of our church members are what we might call seventh-day horizontalists.
In a study conducted some years past, the religious pollster George Barna reported that only forty-three percent of those who call themselves Baptists agree with the proposition that a person is saved by grace and not by works. In that study, Barna found that of those who identified as Baptists, sixty-six percent do not believe the devil is a real entity.
But more important than surveys and reports are the words of Jesus Christ Himself. The words that are important for us to note are those recorded in MATTHEW 7:21-23: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” Not everyone who calls Jesus “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, despite many claiming that they have done great works; but Jesus will say that he never knew them!
The Bible calls for each one who professes Christ as Lord to examine his or her faith. Here are a couple of examples to remember from the Word of God. “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test” [2 CORINTHIANS 13:5]!
Again, remember the Apostle’s words in the earlier Letter to the saints in Corinth. “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged” [1 CORINTHIANS 11:27-31].
What would you consider to be the most dangerous cult in our world today? Would you imagine that the cult had headquarters in Brooklyn, New York? Or perhaps you would say that the most dangerous cult is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. There are some people who are prepared to argue that the most dangerous cult has headquarters in Clearwater, Florida. Dangerous though the cults headquartered in those cities may be, I am prepared to suggest that the most dangerous cult is organised, social, cultural, traditional Christianity that emphasises all the good things about the Faith but misses the point. And that point which is missed is that we must know and own Jesus Christ as our own personal Lord and Saviour or we have no relationship with Him.
Jesus makes a statement, indeed a prophecy, that a day will come when many—did you get that— many will come to him and say, “Lord, Lord.” Moreover, He says that they will come with a tally of what they had done in His name. But they will be sorely disappointed. He is talking about people who give every appearance of being Christians, of being His disciples!
Those individuals named in MATTHEW 7 who called Jesus “Lord” will have made a proper confession in at least two significant ways. To be certain, ROMANS 10:9-10 which is cited so frequently from this pulpit presents the importance of acknowledging Jesus as Lord, as Master over life. However, there are always three elements of a saving confession. And on two counts alone those who will be excluded from Christ’s presence will be correct. The audible confession is also being an acknowledged or public confession. Their confession was made before men; but if that is as far as your confession goes, it is not far enough. Not only did these deluded individuals make a great confession, they had executed a glorious conduct. They could drum up statistics as to how God had used their ministry. When Jesus said that he did not know them, they responded in protest and pointed out that they had prophesied in His Name, cast out demons in His Name and done many wonders in His Name. It seems they were busy with the task of preaching. Is it possible that one can preach from this inerrant Book and miss its message?
When you allow yourself to think, you know it is possible for one to exercise great gifts and still not know Christ as Saviour. Judas will serve as a prime example. There is no reason to think he was not among those who cast out demons in the name of Jesus. Imagine! Judas preached the Good News of the Christ. There is no reason to doubt that he baptised people, or even that he possibly performed miracles. Had he failed to do the things that the others were doing, the others would have been suspicious of him. Jesus appointed the Twelve to preach and to have authority to cast out demons. [2] After appointing the seventy-two, the returning disciples were filled with joy because even the demons were subject to them in the Name of Jesus. [3] According to the Bible, the priests of Egypt performed miracles as they attempted to disprove Moses’ call and power. Jesus warned that a day would come when false prophets and false christs would arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
Why say all of this? Because possibly there is someone out there who is saying to himself or to herself, “I have taught, or I teach Sunday school. I taught Bible school. I have been on a mission trip. I am licensed to preach. I am ordained. I am attending a Bible College.” And yet, could it be possible that you do not have a personal, saving relationship with Jesus Christ? I fear that our churches have people, far more than we might suspect, who are unsaved.
What a sad conclusion, what a horrific conclusion. According to the Master, the people whom we meet in the text are expecting to hear, “Well done thou good and faithful servant;” and instead, they will hear, “Depart from me you workers of iniquity, I never knew you.” I cannot imagine the shock many will experience at that time! How is it possible that so many of our own people—people who are church members, people with whom we have shared services and potluck meals, people for whom we have prayed, how is it possible that so many who appear to be fellow Christians do not care enough to worship the Lamb of God on Sunday morning? It has to do with the third element of a saving confession. The missing ingredient to a biblical confession, in addition to it being audible and acknowledged, is that it must be authentic.
It is possible to make an inauthentic confession when someone is encouraged by parents, by a Sunday School teacher, or by a pastor to just join the church instead of being encouraged to accept Christ. Walking the aisle and getting baptised is not authentic salvation. Joining the church is not authentic salvation. Salvation is the result of faith and trust in Jesus Christ; it is the divine work that God alone can perform in the heart of a repentant sinner. Confession should be the result of the convicting power and work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of that one making the confession. And that Spirit-driven conviction will always lead the repentant individual to confess, “I am a great sinner and Jesus is the great Saviour.”
Confession is authentic when it is produced by the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus taught us that the Holy Spirit works to convict us of our helpless condition. He taught us, “It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged” [JOHN 16:7-11].
Moreover, the Master encouraged all who believe, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you” [JOHN 16:13-15].
Anyone and everyone who is unsure of his or her salvation is invited to come forward at this time. It is never the wrong time to receive Christ as Master over life. It is always the right time to openly confess Him as Master over life. If that is your need, I can assure you that all who are twice-born, all among us who know Jesus as Lord will rejoice with you as you openly confess your faith in Him. Don’t tune out on this message just because I invite you to trust Christ. Listen to the message I’m now prepared to deliver—it is delivered for your benefit and to the glory of the Lord Jesus. If you are unsure of your salvation, if you have no confidence that you are saved, I plead with you to look to the Risen Saviour now! Amen.
PROFESSING JESUS CHRIST AS LORD — “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven” [MATTHEW 7:21a]. It is essential that people confess Christ as Lord, and more important still that people possess Christ Jesus as Master over life. Failure to own Him as Master over life has consequences so dire that it is impossible to comprehend. You have heard me say on multiple occasions, “If Jesus is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all.”
We should be asking what is meant when the Bible teaches us that Jesus is Lord. We use the word “Lord” in a manner that has a far different impact from what the word imparted in an earlier era. We don’t have lords here in North America, and though there are lords in Great Britain, they don’t necessarily have the stature they once held. In an earlier day, however, a lord was ruler over a manor. He received the title “Lord,” which was derived from an Old English word, hlaford, which meant “keeper of the loaf,” or “bread keeper.” The word that was commonly used had changed as Middle English became the standard for language, being loverd. It maintained the meaning, but reflected the change of pronunciation. Ultimately, the word was pronounced in the manner to which we are accustomed to hearing it, lord.
Thus, when we speak of a lord, we are speaking of one who provides daily necessities. This understanding is definitely suggestive of the model prayer which Jesus taught His disciples. You will likely recognise this prayer by the common designation, “The Lord’s Prayer.”
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.”
[MATTHEW 6:9-13]
I suspect that far too many Christians tend to recite this Model Prayer without actually believing what is asked. We do ask for daily bread, but few of us actually believe that we are dependent on the Father to provide the bread we require day-by-day. Why else do we purchase freezers that we fill with food, a good portion of which will be freezer burned because we can’t consume all that we have hidden away in our freezer? Why, if we believe we depend on God’s provision, do we fill our pantries with foodstuffs, much of which can never been eaten? Maybe our great need as Christians is to remind ourselves just how much we are dependant on the Lord!
In the same way, we attest that we want God’s will to be done on earth; but really, we are content to be in control of our life. We are comfortable having our hand on the wheel, guiding our lives through the vicissitudes of life. In fact, we would find it somewhat uncomfortable to think that an unseen God, even the God Whom we call Father, might have His hand on our life.
And what about that request for God to forgive our debtors? How are we doing at that business of forgiving those who owe us? I’m not necessarily speaking of those who may owe us money, though I’m certain that does get a bit close to home for us, I’m wondering about those who have offended us and we continue to hold their offence against them. I suspect that for many of us this business of actually forgiving people that offend us is more difficult than we want to admit. When someone has spoken ill of us, or even when someone has slighted us, it strikes at the very core of our being. And forgiving a slight or forgiving an attempt to actually demean us in the eyes of others is almost impossible for most of us.
However, consider that shortly after delivering this Model Prayer, Levi informs readers that the Master provided a commentary on what He had just taught when He said, “If you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” [MATTHEW 6:14-15]. Well, that certainly casts matters in a different light, doesn’t it. Few of us are so arrogant that we are prepared to claim that we have no need for God’s forgiveness.
Nearing the cross, Jesus returned to this theme of the necessity of forgiving our brothers. He had just told a parable of a servant who was forgiven a major debt, but immediately demanded full repayment of a lesser debt from someone who served with him. Again, you will recall that Jesus’ commentary on the parable was, “So also My heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from the heart” [MATTHEW 18:35]. That is harsh! So, how are you doing at that forgiving debt business? I know that I have serious need for divine forgiveness, and on an ongoing basis. And you?
If we aren’t serious about these initial requests, I have to question whether we are serious about that final request! You know, that request that we not be led into temptation, instead that we would be delivered from evil. So many of the people of God whom I’ve known over the course of my service among the churches appear to pray, “Lead me not into temptation, I can find it on my own.” Perhaps you will remember that the Master cautioned His disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come” [JOHN 17:1a]. I won’t speak for you, but temptations seem to be an ongoing problem in my life. If it isn’t a temptation to distort reality to make myself look better (we usually call that lying), it is the temptation to advance myself at the expense of another. If it isn’t a temptation to speak ill of someone who has offended me, it is a temptation to overindulge my appetite. Of this you may be certain, temptations are sure to come.
You may recall Jesus challenging His disciples on one memorable occasion, saying, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you” [LUKE 6:46]? This question is more than mere rhetoric. If Jesus is truly Lord—Master, Ruler—then shouldn’t we demonstrate His reign over our life by obedience to His command?
In this same vein, you may also recall how challenging the Prophet Malachi was when he confronted His people. He began by speaking on behalf of the Lord GOD. “‘I have loved you,’ says the LORD. But you say, ‘How have you loved us?’ ‘Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?’ declares the LORD. ‘Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.’ If Edom says, ‘We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,’ the LORD of hosts says, ‘They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called “the wicked country,” and “the people with whom the LORD is angry forever.”’ Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, ‘Great is the LORD beyond the border of Israel’” [MALACHI 1:2-5]!
The LORD had a complaint with His people, and when He voiced how they had sinned against Him—in fact, how they were even then sinning against Him—they began to argue that God was mistaken. The reaction of those confronted by the LORD was much like our own reaction when we are caught in a transgression. Perhaps some sister or brother, someone with whom we share the Faith, confronts us and gently rebukes us. At their rebuke, we begin to argue that they are misinterpreting what is happening. We try to excuse our behaviour or justify what we have said. Our fellow saints know what we have done, and we know; but we want to pretend it is all a matter of interpretation and not a problem! We dismiss the accusation, but we know we have been caught.
The LORD then confronted the priests, saying, “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name” [MALACHI 1:6a]. Where is the honour when those who would honour God despise His Name? Where is the fear if He is Master?
You see, the issue is not professing Jesus as Master; the issue is possessing Jesus as Master. Through much of the past several decades, there has been a great controversy among the churches. This particular controversy erupts from time-to-time. The controversy swirls around the issue that some excellent theologians inveigh against what they call “Lordship salvation.” They see the insistence that Jesus must actually be Master over life as a heresy. They say that it is enough to name Him as Lord, and that He will discipline the wayward who say He is Lord but fail to live as though He is Lord. Understand that these theologians are not lightweights; they are good people, and I am not calling their faith into question. Though they have often provided excellent insight into the teachings of the Word, they are insistent that one must never expect that Jesus will actually be Master. It is enough, in their estimate, to call Him Lord.
I read the Scriptures, and it is obvious to me that saying the words, “Jesus is Lord,” can induce a false hope in the life of an individual, especially when there has been no new birth. Either Jesus is Master, or He is nothing to us. Either we submit to His reign over our life, or we refuse His reign over our life. If we fail to obey Him, acting as though we can be independent of His reign over our life, exercising our will rather than embracing His will, He is not Lord! Certainly, He is not our Lord if we refuse to bend our will to His! Whatever we may claim, at that point, we are not His servant and there is no evidence that we have been born from above! If He is not Lord over our life, we do not belong to Him regardless of what we claim.
A short while ago I cited the words of the Master questioning why someone would call Him “Lord” while refusing to obey Him. Immediately after asking this question, Jesus delivered a parable demonstrating the foolishness of attempting to hold such a position. The parable Jesus provided includes a stern warning. “Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great” [LUKE 6:49].
Jesus insists there is a difference between hearing His words and doing them, and hearing His words and failing to do them. The former serves as a source of strength and stability even as the storms of life rage; the latter has no foundation and becomes the means by which life crashes down as the storms of life come. And make no mistake, the storms of life will come! Whether your faith withstands the storms that shall surely come, or whether your faith will give way to the waves crashing against your life depends on whether you are seeking to do the will of the Father.
LIVING BECAUSE JESUS CHRIST IS LORD — “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” [MATTHEW 7:21]. It is not the words that one may speak that are essential; it is the transformation of life that only Christ can bring that is essential. Of course, I’m speaking of the new birth; and we who are twice-born know that without the new birth there is no hope of Heaven. What is often neglected is the acknowledgement that the new birth indicates a new life. It is life which was unimaginable before one has been forgiven all sin and brought into the Family of God.
Here is a truth that seems often to be forgotten, or even ignored as we tell people of God’s salvation. Modern Christians seem conditioned to think of salvation as a kind of eternal fire insurance policy. We say the magic words, perform a religious rite or two, and we can get on with our life as we want to live it. There is no particular change in us—our desires remain the same, our speech is unchanged, our lives look pretty much as we have become used to living. We simply took out an insurance policy that ensures that we can be assured of Heaven. We know that we will one day die, and we want to be certain that we dotted all the i’s and crossed all the t’s so that we can be assured that we’ll go to Heaven.
I have often met people who claimed they are saved, though something didn’t seem right. When questioned to account for the certainty they espouse, I have heard people say it is because they are a member of some particular church, and that is their evidence that they are saved. At other times, I have heard people refer to the rite they identify as baptism as evidence that they are saved—they went through a rite, so they know they are saved. Others will inform me that they partake of the Eucharist, or sit at the Lord’s Table on a regular basis, and that serves as proof they are saved. I have met, and perhaps you also have met, people who have an elaborate story of how they had an ecstatic experience, how they fell into a trance after a lightning bolt from heaven struck them down. Others will speak of how they once had a “burning in their breast,” and that is the means by which they verify that the Lord has saved them. Stories can become quite fanciful and for many, perhaps even for most, the proof that one is a Christian comes down to what they now do or what they might have done at some point in the past.
With a heart that would do you good and not evil, I insist on telling you the truth—the only evidence that you are saved, the sole demonstration that you are delivered from divine judgement and accepted into the Family of God, is a life that reveals obedience to the Risen Son of God. No evidence of salvation exists that does not include obedience to the will of God. Seeking His will and doing what He commands is the sole evidence that you are twice-born. Listen again as the Son of God clarifies the issue. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” [MATTHEW 7:21]. How you feel about yourself, however diligent you may be in observing the rites and rituals of your church, regardless of whether you try to be “good” or ignore all such efforts, the only thing that matters is whether you seek to obey Christ Jesus as Lord of your life.
Jesus’ mother and His brothers at one point came intending to seize Him and make Him stay at home. They had concluded that He was insane. He didn’t act like other people! Surrounded by crowds pushing to hear what He had to say, Jesus’ family came and a man pushed through the crowd to tell Him that His family was outside. I suppose that the man who pushed through the crowd imagined that he was doing Jesus a favour. Surely, the Master would be concerned to see His family? Surely Jesus would want to show deference to His mother. Jesus’ response may have startled that man—I believe it startles some of us, even now. We read, “Stretching out his hand toward his disciples, [Jesus] said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother’” [MATTHEW 12:49-50].
Scope in on that final statement that Jesus made at that time. Doing the will of the Father is the sole criterion for having a claim of being born into the Family of God. Failing to do the will of the Father ensures that one will be forever damned, forever excluded from the promise of life in the hallowed halls of the heavenly mansions. This is the reason I ask each one that hears the message I am bringing at this time, “Are you saved? Are you sure?” If you base your salvation on anything other than Christ as Lord, you deceive yourself. If your supposed salvation does not impel you to seek to know the will of the Father and to do His will, you must check your basis for whatever confidence you may imagine you have.
Lest you should imagine that I am wildly out of line in challenging the professed people of God to ensure that they are in the Faith, I point to the challenge Paul issued to the saints in Corinth, when he wrote, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test” [2 CORINTHIANS 13:5].
It is an imposing thing for any of us to examine ourselves, to test our motives and to question the reason we act as we do. It is imposing primarily because we are conscious that we are capable of deceiving ourselves. We can convince ourselves that we are doing all that is necessary, even while doing what is wrong.
As he draws the missive to the churches scattered throughout Galatia to a conclusion, Paul points to the need for self-examination, writing, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load” [GALATIANS 6:2-5]. You are responsible for yourself. Ensure that you are doing what honours the Master. It will soon be evident to all.
DOING RIGHT AND MISSING HEAVEN — “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’” [MATTHEW 7:21-23].
It is right to expect that those who are saved will profess Christ as Lord. Evangelical Churches are built on the expectation that those who wish to be counted among the redeemed of God will profess Jesus Christ as Lord. We may expect that there are many religious organisations that are content for those who wish to affiliate with them will say they are Christians. Roman Catholics, Anglicans, United Churchmen, Presbyterians, and others identify as Christian though their membership in the particular religious organisation; that makes them Christian, in their estimate. Evangelicals are different we are told. Whether Pentecostal, or Charismatic, or Mennonite Brethren, or Baptist, we expect them to claim an experience of grace in which they put faith in the Risen Son of God and then identify with their denomination.
Despite the claims of many church members that they are Christians, Jesus is emphatic in stating that many individuals claiming salvation will be excluded from heaven in that day when God calls mankind to accounts. Those whom Jesus identifies as being excluded from the precincts of the blessed will be astonished, but they needn’t be shocked. They have deceived themselves about the most important question ever requiring an answer—Are you saved? And are you sure? There is a decided difference between professing Christ and possessing Christ. Assuredly there is no strict correlation between membership within a denomination and possessing life in the Risen Saviour. It is a startling truth according to the Master’s own words that church members who are recognised for their religious activities will be turned away by the Son of God. Multitudes of church members, perhaps even some seated before me at this time, will be excluded from the precincts of grace.
Perhaps many well-meaning Christians have become confused by something that the Apostle wrote in the First Letter to the Church of God in Corinth. You may recall that Paul wrote, “I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says ‘Jesus is accursed!’ and no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit” [1 CORINTHIANS 12:3]. Understand that the words, “Jesus is Lord,” is not some wonderful incantation that magically transforms us and brings us into the Kingdom of God. An unbeliever can easily say these words, and we know that saying them changes nothing. Saying that Jesus is Master when standing firmly in the Faith requires spiritual courage given by the Spirit of Christ. It is not the words that are important, but the transformed life that is essential; that is what is critical.
That is the point Jesus is making in our text. Calling Jesus “Lord” without making Him Lord is a meaningless act. Meaningless? Oh, no, it is deadly, damning, because the individual who calls Jesus “Lord” without submitting to Him as Master has deceived himself or herself. This point must be emphasised: Any effort to call Jesus Lord without permitting Him actually to be Master over your life gives evidence that you have deceived yourself, thus damning yourself to His judgement. Self-deluded people sentence themselves to eternal damnation by shutting out all hope of redemption. What is worse, their exclusion from Paradise is self-imposed! Either Jesus is Lord of all, or He is not Lord at all.
We who hold to the necessity of a transformed life are sometimes ridiculed by good people, people who are biblical scholars whom we otherwise hold in respect. These good people say that we hold to what they call “Lordship Salvation.” If by that they mean that we hold that Christ effectively works in the life of those who are twice-born to reproduce His very life in them, then I confess that I am guilty. If by their ridicule they are attempting to say that we are teaching another way to God, then they have misconstrued what we believe. We do not attempt to coerce God into receiving us by doing something to make ourselves acceptable. Rather, we hold that when we have come to Christ in faith, He will make the necessary change in us to reveal His perfect working in our lives.
We hold to the Word that teaches, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” [ACTS 16:31a]. But we also know that the same Word teaches, “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” [PHILIPPIANS 1:6]. And during this present moment, the Word of God assures us that, “We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” [2 CORINTHIANS 3:18].
Are you saved? Are you sure? God offers salvation, the forgiveness of sin and eternal life. God extends to you, not a mere hope that you are saved—God offers to you salvation that you can know. The Living God extends a “know so” salvation, rather than a “hope so” salvation. Even now the Risen Son of God calls you to life, promising, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation” [ROMANS 10:9-10 NET BIBLE]. Receive His promise, even today. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] See MARK 3:14-16
[3] See LUKE 10:17
